I’m going to be introducing quite a few more dahl recipes but before I did that I just wanted to write a bit about my friend the pressure cooker.

Whilst I’ve had a pressure cooker for over 10 years I haven’t always been a fan. There was an incident about 12 years ago when I didn’t listen to my mothers instructions (or use my common sense) and opened the lid without releasing all the steam first. This resulted in dahl on the ceiling and every other nook and cranny in my kitchen!! So my main tip – always makes sure you release the steam before opening it.

I am now a big fan of the pressure cooker. I use it to cook most of my dahls and I also use it for some of my kids food as you will see. I can make a chicken curry for my kids in about 10 minutes! So it reduces cooking time and if used for the right dishes produces some amazing flavours.

Not that many people I know own a pressure cooker but I think it’s a good investment – you don’t need to buy a huge one. The above picture is of my pressure cookers they are basic ones that you’d probably find in most indian households (where they cook) but I know there are snazzier more colourful versions on the market.

After 3 weeks of sun and sitting my ‘Lemon Pickles’ are perfectly pickled. We opened the jars yesterday for a taste test and they have exceeded my expectations when it comes to flavour. They are tangy, sour, spicy and sweet all at the same time.

Pickles are perfect for serving with poppadoms, dahls and other vegetarian dishes. You can chop them up smaller or serve them as they are. The sauce is so delicious that sometimes I even have some of it on bread or a roti.

I have transfered the pickles into a clean jar – this will prevent the formation of a white mould (which is harmless). Store the pickles in a cool dry place or fridge – they will last for months.

Poha are dehusked flattened rice. They are very popular in India as they are easy to use and transform into a delicious dish. This is a good snack to take out if you are on your travels and can keep for a few days in the fridge. You can buy a bag of Poha at any good Indian grocery store and they normally come in 500g bags.

I made the above dish recently when we were busy packing and needed some comfort food to keep us going.

I wasn’t really planning to blog this dish but thought why not! I’m in the process of having a good go at using up the contents of my pantry and fridge, and thought it would be a good opportunity to show you how easy it is to vary a dish. A slight change in ingredients or method of cooking can easily change a dish and add variation to your culinary repertoire.

So after my pizza making on Sunday I was left with 1/3 jar of passata and needed to find a use for it. Here is a variation of my earlier recipe of ‘Tuver, Aubergine and Methi’. Substituting the fresh tomato with the passata creates a dish where the vegetables are cooked in a sauce.

I was strongly leaning towards making ‘Oven Chicken’ with the drumsticks we had in the fridge but decided to try something slightly different. We’d already got dhal and guvar left over from yesterday so I didn’t need to worry too much about having vegetables to go with it – so this is what I ended up with.

Ingredients

As with any dish you marinade I’d advise marinading at least a few hours before hand to get the best results.

8 free range chicken drumsticks – skin removed

2 large potatoes – peeled and cut up in small roast potato sized pieces